Older US tourist falls, dies in Galapagos

QUITO — A 74-year-old US tourist died Saturday when she fell and struck her head while visiting the famed tortoise breeding grounds in Ecuador’s Galapagos islands, the nature reserve said.

The woman, identified as Jane White, “lost consciousness and had an open wound on her forehead,” the Galapagos National Park said in a statement.

The remoteness of the location, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the port in the regional capital, “hindered the rapid transfer” of the tourist to the hospital, where doctors confirmed her death, the statement added.

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White and her fellow travelers arrived in the Galapagos islands by boat on Friday and were scheduled to remain until January 4.

A week ago, a US climber also died in Ecuador as he ascended the Cotopaxi volcano, 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Quito, when he had a heart attack.